I think what has happend is that a few people were using Dwolla/Bitcoin to steal money.

These thieves would steal someone's bank account information, sign up for Dwolla, and then drain the account into bitcoin. Once the thieves had converted the stolen money into bitcoin the transactions could not be undone.

Dwolla is probably desperately trying to verify new accounts, to make sure that the account owners are aware that their bank account is linked to Dwolla. It seems like a futile effort.

And yes, I received a phone call from them several weeks ago. I think they are calling everyone. But be wary of scams !

I got a call several weeks ago when I was withdrawing $1200 to my bank account through them. It's probably the whole "Know your customer" act/law/thing. I believe they have to confirm the identity of anyone moving funds in amounts over $1000.

Dwolla appears to be based somewhere near Des Moines, Iowa. Their phone number is in the 515 area code. When I called it (after hours), I got their voice mail, which indicates that they are open between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM "Central Time zone". Jordan Lampe, their "Director of Communications", has a Twitter account that lists him as being in Des Moines, Iowa. HOWEVER, their domain (dwolla.com) is registered through Domains by Proxy, GoDaddy's Whois Privacy service, which means that there is no way to verify a postal address or actual location for the domain doing business as Dwolla. And with VOIP, phones in any area code can point to any phone in the world. Although I think it's unlikely that they are not located in the U.S., they could theoretically be anywhere. That's *really* cheesy for a financial company or any company that wants to build trust.

I've been using Dwolla. The whole Bitcoin economy is new, so I'm careful. Nobody can drain an important bank account of significant sums through it because I opened a separate bank account to use with it and other Bitcoin-related businesses, and keep very little money in it. I highly recommend that others take the same precaution, even if you end up paying a fee for use of the account. You should NOT risk more money than you can afford to loose on Bitcoin til it has matured significantly.

So far, I've received no phone calls from Dwolla. If I did, I would not verify any information except for my name, would hang up, and then would call them back on their published phone number on their web site and ask for the person who called me. After reconnecting that way, *then* I would verify my account information. Remember, you do not know who is calling you when somebody calls you unless you know them and can recognize their voice.

Kermee -- did you call Dwolla back, however? If you did, cool. If not, you accepted as verification a bit of information that anybody could have found by looking at their web site. In other words, it verified nothing at all. You're probably still okay, but it pays to be a bit paranoid about financial matters. :-)

Kermee -- did you call Dwolla back, however? If you did, cool. If not, you accepted as verification a bit of information that anybody could have found by looking at their web site. In other words, it verified nothing at all. You're probably still okay, but it pays to be a bit paranoid about financial matters. :-)

Sorry. I should of been clearer.

They left a VM saying to call them back, so yes, I called them back. The call-back # was the same as the phone # on their site. I assumed it was for verification purposes only. -- Worst case scenario is they know my 'Billing' PO Box address now which is what I have on my Dwolla account.

Ah. Then you did call them back on a known-good phone number. That's cool -- you did the right thing.

I hope other people who get calls from Dwolla (or their bank or credit card accounts) do the same. Unfortunately phishers and others involved in financial fraud don't just send fake emails from your bank these days. They also make phone calls. So, unless you can verify the voice of the person who called you, best to call them back, and *ALWAYS* obtain the call back number from public information. Don't just call the number that they give you.

They're in a hacker space, Foundry Coworking, at 1312 Locust St, Des Moines, Iowa. So says the Iowa state corporation registry. If there's a problem, that's where you send the process server or collection agency.

Bitcoin oriented companies remain rather low-rent. Dwolla is in a low-cost hacker space. Mt. Gox used to be Magic, the Gathering Online Exchange. "Global Standard Bank" put up fake pictures of their supposed premises and got caught. Of the ones outside major countries, Tradehill is in Chile, and Liberty Reserve is in Costa Rica. All these outfits have potential liabilities in 7 figures if they screw up, and no indication that they have the financial strength to deal with them.

Agreed. None of the financial firms operating in Bitcoin space has much cushion if they screw up. You could sue them if they cost you a ton of money, but there would likely be nothing to collect, just a bankruptcy. That's why people shouldn't put more into this than they can afford to loose. It's a risk. IMHO taking risks is part of life, however; the trick is to think first and choose your risks intelligently.

I have refused to answer any questions to "confirm my identity" on the phone. They invited me to call their COO. Hah! The COO wants to deal with a $2 total fees account personally? I refused to have any verbal contact or to give them any information that they did not already have. I demanded all communication be in writing.

Because I don't trust dwolla since I read about them trying to scam tradehill.

They responded by "freezing" my "pending" transactions. Their site said I had "0 pending" transactions. But the last ACH withdrawal made 3 days before the phone call has yet to be credited to my bank account. Anyway, I will give it a few more business days, then try written correspondence, then seek civil and criminal penalties. I figure it will be worth it since I can get costs and if I'm lucky treble damages, punitive damages, or restitution. It would be a class action if they are doing this to lots of people.

This from a company that has moved less than $10k dollars for me and has taken less than $2 in fees from me. They already lost all their profit on me after the first phone call required a follow-up email. And they want to play hardball without so much as a professional written correspondence. Pfft, I'm done with them.

I don't trust dwolla. I'm guessing it's run by a handful of kids with little business or legal experience trying to play bigshot and not realizing the civil and criminal trouble they are walking into. Blindly walking to their own doom, arrogant and foolish.

Big time, I'm on my way I'm making it, big time, oh yes- Peter Gabriel

They responded by "freezing" my "pending" transactions. Their site said I had "0 pending" transactions. But the last ACH withdrawal made 3 days before the phone call has yet to be credited to my bank account. Anyway, I will give it a few more business days, then try written correspondence, then seek civil and criminal penalties. I figure it will be worth it since I can get costs and if I'm lucky treble damages, punitive damages, or restitution. It would be a class action if they are doing this to lots of people.

Class actions only benefit the lawyers. Usually the plaintiffs get pennies on the dollar. A series of individual small lawsuits would do a lot more damage to them.